Mission Hangzhou: A look at India's biggest medal prospects at Asian Games
Asian Games in Hangzhou. The country will be vying for top honours across 39 sporting disciplines, including individual and team events.
While 'Aab ki Baar, Sau Paar' (which translates to crossing 100 medals this time) has been the catchline, the fans and the sporting establishment would like to temper its expectations but with an eye to surpass the tally of 70 medals won in the previous edition in Jakarta and Palembang.
The PTI looks at some of India's brightest medal prospects in the quadrennial extravaganza starting September 23.
*ATHLETICS
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Men's Javelin Throw:
Neeraj Chopra
The 25-year-old Olympic and world champion is the best bet for a gold in athletics. Having achieved legendry status, defending the gold he won in 2018 could be a cakewalk for Neeraj.
Pakistan's World Championships silver medallist Arshad Nadeem, who claimed a bronze in the 2018 Asian Games, will be his main rival in Hangzhou.
Kishore Jena
With a personal best throw of 84.77m while finishing a creditable fifth in his maiden World Championships last month, the 28-year-old is a medal contender.
He has the third best throw among Asians this season.
Men's Shot Put:
Tajinderpal Singh Toor
The 28-year-old is the favourite to defend the gold medal he won in 2018. He is the lone Indian Asian record holder in individual events.
Toor's only concern is that he has been injury prone in the last few years.
The burly Punjab athlete re-wrote his own Asian record by hurling the iron ball to a distance of 21.77m while winning gold in the National Inter-State Championships in June.
Men's Long Jump:
Murali Sreeshankar
Sreeshankar will be aiming to redeem himself after his disappointing show at the World Championships. His personal and season's best of 8.41m puts
